Citing The Re-Org, Xbox Exec Exits Microsoft After Nearly A Decade

In the wake of the recent Microsoft reorganization, a longtime Xbox-group executive is leaving Microsoft, according to the Los Angeles Times and confirmed by TechCrunch. Blair Westlake, a now former corporate vice president at the company, worked at the firm for nearly 10 years.

Westlake, in a statement provided to the Times, indicated that the restructuring of the company was the reason behind his departure. In that statement, he said that as “the reorganization has unfolded, it has become clear to me that the organization is moving in a direction that does not fit either my expertise or skill sets.”

At Microsoft, the rank of corporate vice president is one echelon below that of executive vice president, the title of Microsoft’s divisional leaders. Terry Myerson, for example, Microsoft’s head of operating systems, is an executive vice president.

Westlake’s prior career included an 18-year stint at Universal Television and a short interlude at Gemstar-TV Guide before he landed at Microsoft.

As the Times notes, he was in charge of the group that licensed video content for Microsoft. Given that the Xbox team continues to source video content, recently built and released a console that has expanded television capabilities, and is working to create new exclusive content, it isn’t immediately clear why Westlake no longer fit into the larger Microsoft zeitgeist.

At the same time, in every large shakeup of a company, people leave. I’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update this post if I hear back.